This was a captivating story about two sisters who are sent to the English countryside during World War II as part of Operation Pied Piper, a government mission to evacuate children from the cities to keep them safe from bombings. In 1939, fourteen-year-old Hazel Linden and her five-year-old sister Flora Lea are taken in by the Aberdeen family (Bridie and her teenage son Harry) at their cottage in Binsey, a charming little hamlet along the River Thames. To keep her little sister entertained and also to distract her from the devastating realities of war, Hazel makes up various stories for Flora — one in particular is a fairytale about a secret, magical world called Whisperwood that the sisters could escape to in their imaginations. One day though, while the kids are having a picnic near the river, Flora Lea disappears and when her stuffed bear is found half-buried at the mouth of the river, she is presumed to have drowned. Devastated and consumed with both grief and guilt for not keeping an eye on her sister, Hazel leaves Binsey, burying her memories of the town and the happy life she had with Flora and the Aberdeens forever. Twenty years later, in 1960, Hazel has rebuilt her life in London, working at a rare book shop and largely putting the past behind her — that is, until the day she unwraps a first edition copy of a book entitled Whisperwood and the River of Stars, written by an American author named Peggy Andrews. Hazel is bewildered, as she never told anyone about the secret world she made up, which only she and her sister knew about. With a glimmer of hope that her sister might have survived after all, Hazel embarks on a quest to find out the origins of the book, which involves dredging up past hurts as well as revisiting past relationships that she had long left behind. But as Hazel digs deeper into the past in the hopes of finding the truth about her sister's disappearance, it threatens to unravel the current life that she painstakingly built — a cost that Hazel must decide if she is willing pay, especially as it could ultimately lead to a dead end.
I really enjoyed this charming yet poignant story written by an author whose many works I've heard of but didn't have the chance to read until now. The beauty of this book is in the way the author, Patti Callahan Henry, takes a made-up, mystical world and combines it so seamlessly with real-life historical events to create a story that felt original and inventive, yet at the same time, also felt informative and authentic to the time period. I definitely felt transported and immersed in both the world of Whisperwood as well as the countryside setting juxtaposed against the backdrop of the realities of war in the city. The combination of these elements worked well and also made the story stand out from other works of historical fiction.
This was a book that I couldn't put down as soon as I started reading it. I was completely invested in the "mystery" of Flora's disappearance and how that related to the Whisperwood book, to the point that I found myself reading late into the night so that I could find out what happens. While there were moments where I thought I had guessed the "truth" and how the ending would turn out, I was actually surprised time and time again by the turn of events, which made this a compelling read that kept me turning the pages. I also appreciated how there was a good balance to the story in that it didn't lean overly on being too heavy or too lighthearted, but rather a steady combination of both — a balance that is usually not easy to achieve with stories set against WWII. To be honest, a story like this one could easily go sideways, but in the hands of this particular author, it was perfect.
It's hard to say too much about this book outside of the basic premise without giving something away, so I will keep this review short and sweet. I definitely encourage reading this one and letting the delightful story (as well as the endearing characters) sweep you up. Highly recommended!
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